Check sorter or separator



(No Model.) 2' Sheets Sheet 1.

J. M. MAGRAE.

CHECK SORTBR 0R SEPARATOR.

No. 590,666. Patented Sept. 28,1897.

Jaw w w 8 0a ,8 l l n e e I lliLn a v M e v o4 e INVENTOR WITNESSES 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

(N o Model.)

J. M. MAORAE. CHECK SORTER 0 SEPARATOR.

No. 590,666. Patented Sept. 28,1897.

UNITED STATES PATENT O FICE.

JOHN MILLER MACRAE, OF CLARKSVILLE, TENNESSEE.

CHECK SORTER OR SEPA RATOR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 590,666, dated September 28, 1897.

Application filed May 4, 1897. Serial No. 635,040. (No model.) I I To all whom it may concern: Be it known that I, JOHN MILLER MACRAE,

a citizen of the United States, residing at Clarksville, in the county of Montgomery and State of Tennessee, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Check Sorters or Separators; and I do hereby declare the following to be a f ull,-clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to a device for holding commercial paper or documents, but more particularly to a sorter'or separator for bankchecks.

The primary object of the invention is to provide a simple and efficient device in which checks or other papers of one character or relating to one party may be placed and kept separate from other papers or checks relating to the same or a different party, so that the separated checks or papers may be filed away or readily removed at any time without the trouble and loss of time incident to the means ordinarily employed.

A further object ofthe invention is to provide a simple and eflicient device adapted to hold various kinds of papers or documents,

and which may be used independently or in connection with'a cabinet, so as to adapt the device to be employed either as a separator or'sorter or as a file for the papers.

The invention will be more particularly hereinafter described with reference to the accompanying drawings, which form a part of this specification, and then pointed out in the claims at the end of the description.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, wherein similar letters of reference designate similar parts, Figure l is a plan view of the device, partly broken away. Figs. 2 and 3 are transverse sectional views taken on the lines II II and III III, respectively, of Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is alongitudinal sectional view through the casing, the plunger and the partition or division plates being removed. Figs. 5 and 6 represent opposite end views of the device. Fig. 7 is a detail perspective view of one of the retaining and guide rods; and Fig. 8 is a fragmentary View of a portion of the casing, illustrating one of the rod-supporting plates and the aperture or recess in which one end of the clip is adapted to fit.

I have illustrated my invention as applied to an open box-like casing A, but it is obvishown,) in which case the casing may be fitted as a drawer to the cabinet.

The casing A may have one or more bars or strips a extending longitudinally of said casing and secured. to or formed on the upper surface of the bottom thereof, so as to support the checks or other papers. and prevent them from resting upon said bottom when arranged in the casing. A guide rod or bolt a may extend longitudinally of the casing and be arranged at or .near the upper portion at each side thereof, the ends of said rods being passed through openings in the casing and supported in plates a secured to the opposite ends of said casing. These rods may have one of their ends bent or provided with a hook, as at a adapted to abut against the plates a adjacent thereto, while the other ends thereof may be screw-threaded and provided with a'suitable wing or other nut a in order that either or both of said rods may I be rigidly held in the casing or permitted to be withdrawn therefrom.

For the purpose of compressing the checks or other papersand holding them in an upright position I prefer to slidingly arrange a plunger or follower B on the rods a. This follower may have brackets 19 secured to or formed thereon and provided with apertures therein, through which the rods a are passed, so as to slidingly hold the follower on said rods or bolts, though suitable fingers or other means may be provided for slidingly holding the plunger on the rods if desired. The follower may have its lower edge recessed,'so as to fit over the strips or bars a, and may have a bracket or frame 19' secured thereto, in which the bolts or stems b are arranged to slide transversely of the casing. Each bolt or stem 17 may be arranged in suitable guides on the bracket 1) and is normally pressed outwardly or toward the side of the casing adjacent thereto by a suitable spring, as at Z1 which latter abuts at one end against one of the guides and at its other end against a collar arranged on the stem. These bolts may have one of their ends provided with suitable handles or gripping means and their other ends adapted to engage the teeth of suitable racks, as b", arranged on opposite sides of the casing and extending lengthwise thereof. The racks may be of any suitable construction and of any desired number and are adapted, when engaged by the end of the stems or bolts Z1 to rigidly hold the follower in various adjustments or to permit the follower, when the stems or bolts are forced toward each other by the hand of the operator, to be forced or made to slide along said rods to the desired point. By this means the follower may be readily adjusted and rigidly held in the casing.

The checks or papers may be separated by a series of partitions or division-plates D. These partitions may be of metal and of any desired number and may be arranged chronologieally or alphabetically, so as to permit the location of the papers to be readily ascertained, and each partition or division plate may have a projecting portion, as at d, whose side edges are folded over at an angle, so as to prevent upward movement of the indicating card or slip when placed therein. The upper edge of the division-plates at each side of the projecting portion cZ may have its edges folded over, so as to hold a wire or rod (1.

This wire may have its outer ends bent or formed so as to embrace the rods a and guide the division-plates along said rods and may have its body portion arranged below the folded or open ends of the projection d of said plates, so as to prevent downward movement of the indicating card or slip. The lower edges of the partitions or division-plates may be recessed, so as to fit over the strips to, to prevent the checks or papers from slipping below the lower edges of said plates, said strips being adapted, when desired, to fit the recesses in the divisiomplates to serve as a further guide for said plates.

In order that the division-plates may be retained in the casing or permitted to be read ily removed, I prefer to arrange a laterallymovable rod or bolt 0 at each side of the easing below the rods a. These bolts may have their ends supported in suitable openings or slots 6 in plates 6 which latter may be secured to the outer surface of the opposite ends of the casing. The bolts 6 are adapted to fit in notches or recesses of the division-plates oroverproj eeting portions of said plates when in one position, so as to retain and assist in holding said plates in the casing in an upright position, and when moved laterally are adapted to fit grooves, as at 6 in said casing, so as to be free of said plates to permit their removal without entirely withdrawing said bolts. The slots or openings in the plates (2 may be L-shaped or angular, with the horizontal portion thereof forming aeontinuation of the grooves 6 so that the rods 6 may be raised and readily slipped into said grooves. The rods may each have one end thereof, Fig. 7, L-shaped, so that its end a may engage an aperture 6 in the casing, and its other end screw-threaded and provided with a suitable nut c. A suitable clip, as at c may be interposed between said nut and the casing, said clip having its lower edge bent at an angle and adapted to engage an aperture or slot, as at a Fig. 8, in the casing, so that by rotating the nut in one direction the clip and the end 6' of the bolt will engage the casing when in the position shown, but when released or given several turns in the opposite direction said clip may be released, and by forcing the rod forward sufficient to release the end c thereof from the casing the bolt may be raised in the slot and moved bodily into the grooves 6 out of the way of the partition-plates.

The construction and operation of the invention will be readily understood from the foregoing description when taken in connec' tion with the accompanying drawings.

The parts being in the position shown in the drawings and the papers or checks of various parties arranged between the division-plates it will be seen that by pressing the two stems or bolts 11 toward each other, so as to release said stems from the racks b, so that the follower may be moved along the rods ct to release the pressure thereof upon the papers or checks, one or more checks may be readily placed between the proper division-plates or one or more cheeks removed, while an opposite movement of the followeror plunger will compress and rigidly hold the checks or other papers in the casing. To remove or add one or more of the partitions or division-plates, the nuts (2 011 the rods 6 are released, which will permit the clip 6 and the end 0 of said rod to be released and the bolt raised bodily and moved into the grooves e as heretofore explained. The nuts a on the rods ct may now be removed and said rods forced lengthwise of the casing to the desired point, when an additional plate or plates may be added to or one or more removed from the easin g, while by entirely withdrawing the rods ct the follower and all the partition-plates may be removed. I thus provide a simple and efficient device for holding checks or other papers whereby the checks of one party may be readily separated from those of others, and at the same time provide a device which may be used as a sorter or separator or as a file for the checks after being separated. It

is obvious that instead of the wiresd of the partition or division plates passing entirely around the rods a they may simply rest upon or partly surround said rods, in which case the lower rods 6 will retain the partitions in the casing; that other means may be employed for slidingly holding the follower and division-plates in the casing, and that some v of the parts may be dispensed with or others substituted therefor without departing from the spirit of my invention, and hence I do not desire to limit myself to the'precise construction shown and described.

Having thus fully described my'invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is-

1. In a device of the character described, the combination of the casing, a pair of removable rods on opposite sides thereof, and a division-plate strung on said removable rods, having projecting portions on its ends; with a pair of laterally-movable rods arranged to normally overlie the projecting portions of the division-plate so as to retain it in an upright position, substantially as described.

2. A device for holding papers, comprising a casing, a follower, a series of partitions or division-plates,rods extending longitudinally through the casing for guiding the divisionplates and follower in their movements therein and laterally-movable guide and retaining rods or bolts adapted to fit over a portion of the division-plates to assist'in retaining said plates in an upright position, and to be moved to one side of the division-plates to permit said plates to be removed without withdrawing the retainingmods from the casing, substantially as described.

3. A device of the character described, comprising a casing, a pair of rods arranged on opposite sides of the casing at or near the upper portion thereof, a follower and a series of partitions or division-plates slidingly held on said rods, and a pair of laterally-movable guide and retaining rods or bolts adapted to fit over a portion of the division-plates to assist in retaining said plates in an upright. po-' sition and to be moved to one side of the division-plates to permit said partitions or plates to be removed without withdrawing the retaining-rods from the casing, substantially as described. I

4. A sorter or file for checks and the like, comprising a casing provided with longitudinally-extending grooves at or near the bottom of the casing and on opposite sides thereof, and With openings or slots forming a continuation of said grooves, division-plates or partitions arranged in the casing, a pair of rods arranged on opposite sides of said casing at or near the upper portion thereof, and a second pair of rods having their ends arranged in the openings in the casing so as to adapt said bolts to be moved laterally and engage notches in the edges of the divisionplates to assist in retaining said plates in an upright position, or to be moved into the longitudinal grooves in the casing to permit the partitions or plates to be removed without withdrawing the retaining-rods from the easing, said latter rods having one of their ends hooked and adapted to engage the casing, and their other ends provided with suitable nuts so as to secure the rods in thecasing or permit them to be shifted laterally, substantially as described.

5. In a device for holding papers, a metallic partition or division plate having a guide wire or rod held therein by bending over the upper edge thereof, and provided with a projectin g portion above the wire whose ends are folded over at an incline so as to retain an indicating card or slip therein against upward movement, while the rod or wire retains and prevents downward movement of the card,- substantially as described.

6. A device for holding papers, comprising a casing provided with one or more longitudinally-extending strips arranged in the bottom of said casing upon which the checks or other articles may rest so as to be supported above said bottom, a pair of rods arranged on opposite sides of the casing at or near the upper portion thereof, a follower slidingly held on the rods, means forsecuring said follower 

